diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
index 3cb4123..c97dca0 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/Android.bp
@@ -420,7 +420,8 @@
         "snapuserd_server.cpp",
         "snapuserd.cpp",
         "snapuserd_daemon.cpp",
-        "snapuserd_worker.cpp",
+	"snapuserd_worker.cpp",
+	"snapuserd_readahead.cpp",
     ],
 
     cflags: [
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/cow_reader.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/cow_reader.cpp
index c2e4f89..35a02e6 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/cow_reader.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/cow_reader.cpp
@@ -369,13 +369,7 @@
     //                        Replace-op-4, Zero-op-9, Replace-op-5 }
     //==============================================================
 
-    for (uint64_t i = 0; i < ops_->size(); i++) {
-        auto& current_op = ops_->data()[i];
-        if (current_op.type != kCowCopyOp) {
-            break;
-        }
-        num_copy_ops += 1;
-    }
+    num_copy_ops = FindNumCopyops();
 
     std::sort(ops_.get()->begin() + num_copy_ops, ops_.get()->end(),
               [](CowOperation& op1, CowOperation& op2) -> bool {
@@ -386,6 +380,23 @@
         CHECK(ops_->size() >= header_.num_merge_ops);
         ops_->erase(ops_.get()->begin(), ops_.get()->begin() + header_.num_merge_ops);
     }
+
+    num_copy_ops = FindNumCopyops();
+    set_copy_ops(num_copy_ops);
+}
+
+uint64_t CowReader::FindNumCopyops() {
+    uint64_t num_copy_ops = 0;
+
+    for (uint64_t i = 0; i < ops_->size(); i++) {
+        auto& current_op = ops_->data()[i];
+        if (current_op.type != kCowCopyOp) {
+            break;
+        }
+        num_copy_ops += 1;
+    }
+
+    return num_copy_ops;
 }
 
 bool CowReader::GetHeader(CowHeader* header) {
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
index 060d363..c05b7ef 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_format.h
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@
 //      +-----------------------+
 //      |     Header (fixed)    |
 //      +-----------------------+
+//      |     Scratch space     |
+//      +-----------------------+
 //      | Operation  (variable) |
 //      | Data       (variable) |
 //      +-----------------------+
@@ -152,11 +154,28 @@
 static constexpr uint8_t kCowCompressGz = 1;
 static constexpr uint8_t kCowCompressBrotli = 2;
 
+static constexpr uint8_t kCowReadAheadNotStarted = 0;
+static constexpr uint8_t kCowReadAheadInProgress = 1;
+static constexpr uint8_t kCowReadAheadDone = 2;
+
 struct CowFooter {
     CowFooterOperation op;
     CowFooterData data;
 } __attribute__((packed));
 
+struct ScratchMetadata {
+    // Block of data in the image that operation modifies
+    // and read-ahead thread stores the modified data
+    // in the scratch space
+    uint64_t new_block;
+    // Offset within the file to read the data
+    uint64_t file_offset;
+} __attribute__((packed));
+
+struct BufferState {
+    uint8_t read_ahead_state;
+} __attribute__((packed));
+
 // 2MB Scratch space used for read-ahead
 static constexpr uint64_t BUFFER_REGION_DEFAULT_SIZE = (1ULL << 21);
 
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_reader.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_reader.h
index 552fd96..9ebcfd9 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_reader.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/include/libsnapshot/cow_reader.h
@@ -141,18 +141,21 @@
 
     bool GetRawBytes(uint64_t offset, void* buffer, size_t len, size_t* read);
 
-    void UpdateMergeProgress(uint64_t merge_ops) { header_.num_merge_ops += merge_ops; }
-
     void InitializeMerge();
 
     void set_total_data_ops(uint64_t size) { total_data_ops_ = size; }
 
     uint64_t total_data_ops() { return total_data_ops_; }
 
+    void set_copy_ops(uint64_t size) { copy_ops_ = size; }
+
+    uint64_t total_copy_ops() { return copy_ops_; }
+
     void CloseCowFd() { owned_fd_ = {}; }
 
   private:
     bool ParseOps(std::optional<uint64_t> label);
+    uint64_t FindNumCopyops();
 
     android::base::unique_fd owned_fd_;
     android::base::borrowed_fd fd_;
@@ -162,6 +165,7 @@
     std::optional<uint64_t> last_label_;
     std::shared_ptr<std::vector<CowOperation>> ops_;
     uint64_t total_data_ops_;
+    uint64_t copy_ops_;
 };
 
 }  // namespace snapshot
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.cpp
index d104bd8..e6af777 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.cpp
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@
 
         worker_threads_.push_back(std::move(wt));
     }
+
+    read_ahead_thread_ = std::make_unique<ReadAheadThread>(cow_device_, backing_store_device_,
+                                                           misc_name_, GetSharedPtr());
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -54,7 +57,11 @@
     struct CowHeader* ch = reinterpret_cast<struct CowHeader*>(mapped_addr_);
     ch->num_merge_ops += num_merge_ops;
 
-    // Sync the first 4k block
+    if (read_ahead_feature_ && read_ahead_ops_.size() > 0) {
+        struct BufferState* ra_state = GetBufferState();
+        ra_state->read_ahead_state = kCowReadAheadInProgress;
+    }
+
     int ret = msync(mapped_addr_, BLOCK_SZ, MS_SYNC);
     if (ret < 0) {
         PLOG(ERROR) << "msync header failed: " << ret;
@@ -66,6 +73,174 @@
     return true;
 }
 
+void Snapuserd::PrepareReadAhead() {
+    if (!read_ahead_feature_) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    struct BufferState* ra_state = GetBufferState();
+    // Check if the data has to be re-constructed from COW device
+    if (ra_state->read_ahead_state == kCowReadAheadDone) {
+        populate_data_from_cow_ = true;
+    } else {
+        populate_data_from_cow_ = false;
+    }
+
+    StartReadAhead();
+}
+
+bool Snapuserd::GetRABuffer(std::unique_lock<std::mutex>* lock, uint64_t block, void* buffer) {
+    CHECK(lock->owns_lock());
+    std::unordered_map<uint64_t, void*>::iterator it = read_ahead_buffer_map_.find(block);
+
+    // This will be true only for IO's generated as part of reading a root
+    // filesystem. IO's related to merge should always be in read-ahead cache.
+    if (it == read_ahead_buffer_map_.end()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // Theoretically, we can send the data back from the read-ahead buffer
+    // all the way to the kernel without memcpy. However, if the IO is
+    // un-aligned, the wrapper function will need to touch the read-ahead
+    // buffers and transitions will be bit more complicated.
+    memcpy(buffer, it->second, BLOCK_SZ);
+    return true;
+}
+
+// ========== State transition functions for read-ahead operations ===========
+
+bool Snapuserd::GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer(uint64_t block, void* buffer) {
+    if (!read_ahead_feature_) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    {
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        if (io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_FAILURE) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_IN_PROGRESS) {
+            return GetRABuffer(&lock, block, buffer);
+        }
+    }
+
+    {
+        // Read-ahead thread IO is in-progress. Wait for it to complete
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        while (!(io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_FAILURE ||
+                 io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_IN_PROGRESS)) {
+            cv.wait(lock);
+        }
+
+        return GetRABuffer(&lock, block, buffer);
+    }
+}
+
+// This is invoked by read-ahead thread waiting for merge IO's
+// to complete
+bool Snapuserd::WaitForMergeToComplete() {
+    {
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        while (!(io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_BEGIN ||
+                 io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_TERMINATED)) {
+            cv.wait(lock);
+        }
+
+        if (io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_TERMINATED) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        io_state_ = READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_IN_PROGRESS;
+        return true;
+    }
+}
+
+// This is invoked during the launch of worker threads. We wait
+// for read-ahead thread to by fully up before worker threads
+// are launched; else we will have a race between worker threads
+// and read-ahead thread specifically during re-construction.
+bool Snapuserd::WaitForReadAheadToStart() {
+    {
+        std::unique_lock<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        while (!(io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_IN_PROGRESS ||
+                 io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_FAILURE)) {
+            cv.wait(lock);
+        }
+
+        if (io_state_ == READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_FAILURE) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+}
+
+// Invoked by worker threads when a sequence of merge operation
+// is complete notifying read-ahead thread to make forward
+// progress.
+void Snapuserd::StartReadAhead() {
+    {
+        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        io_state_ = READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_BEGIN;
+    }
+
+    cv.notify_one();
+}
+
+void Snapuserd::MergeCompleted() {
+    {
+        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        io_state_ = READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_TERMINATED;
+    }
+
+    cv.notify_one();
+}
+
+bool Snapuserd::ReadAheadIOCompleted() {
+    // Flush the entire buffer region
+    int ret = msync(mapped_addr_, total_mapped_addr_length_, MS_SYNC);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "msync failed after ReadAheadIOCompleted: " << ret;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // Metadata and data are synced. Now, update the state.
+    // We need to update the state after flushing data; if there is a crash
+    // when read-ahead IO is in progress, the state of data in the COW file
+    // is unknown. kCowReadAheadDone acts as a checkpoint wherein the data
+    // in the scratch space is good and during next reboot, read-ahead thread
+    // can safely re-construct the data.
+    struct BufferState* ra_state = GetBufferState();
+    ra_state->read_ahead_state = kCowReadAheadDone;
+
+    ret = msync(mapped_addr_, BLOCK_SZ, MS_SYNC);
+    if (ret < 0) {
+        PLOG(ERROR) << "msync failed to flush Readahead completion state...";
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    // Notify the worker threads
+    {
+        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        io_state_ = READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::IO_IN_PROGRESS;
+    }
+
+    cv.notify_all();
+    return true;
+}
+
+void Snapuserd::ReadAheadIOFailed() {
+    {
+        std::lock_guard<std::mutex> lock(lock_);
+        io_state_ = READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION::READ_AHEAD_FAILURE;
+    }
+
+    cv.notify_all();
+}
+
+//========== End of state transition functions ====================
+
 bool Snapuserd::IsChunkIdMetadata(chunk_t chunk) {
     uint32_t stride = exceptions_per_area_ + 1;
     lldiv_t divresult = lldiv(chunk, stride);
@@ -257,13 +432,16 @@
         data_chunk_id = GetNextAllocatableChunkId(data_chunk_id);
     }
 
+    int num_ra_ops_per_iter = ((GetBufferDataSize()) / BLOCK_SZ);
     std::optional<chunk_t> prev_id = {};
     std::map<uint64_t, const CowOperation*> map;
     std::set<uint64_t> dest_blocks;
     size_t pending_copy_ops = exceptions_per_area_ - num_ops;
-    SNAP_LOG(INFO) << " Processing copy-ops at Area: " << vec_.size()
-                   << " Number of replace/zero ops completed in this area: " << num_ops
-                   << " Pending copy ops for this area: " << pending_copy_ops;
+    uint64_t total_copy_ops = reader_->total_copy_ops();
+
+    SNAP_LOG(DEBUG) << " Processing copy-ops at Area: " << vec_.size()
+                    << " Number of replace/zero ops completed in this area: " << num_ops
+                    << " Pending copy ops for this area: " << pending_copy_ops;
     while (!cowop_riter_->Done()) {
         do {
             const CowOperation* cow_op = &cowop_riter_->Get();
@@ -425,6 +603,9 @@
             offset += sizeof(struct disk_exception);
             num_ops += 1;
             copy_ops++;
+            if (read_ahead_feature_) {
+                read_ahead_ops_.push_back(it->second);
+            }
 
             SNAP_LOG(DEBUG) << num_ops << ":"
                             << " Copy-op: "
@@ -452,6 +633,15 @@
             }
 
             data_chunk_id = GetNextAllocatableChunkId(data_chunk_id);
+            total_copy_ops -= 1;
+            /*
+             * Split the number of ops based on the size of read-ahead buffer
+             * region. We need to ensure that kernel doesn't issue IO on blocks
+             * which are not read by the read-ahead thread.
+             */
+            if (read_ahead_feature_ && (total_copy_ops % num_ra_ops_per_iter == 0)) {
+                data_chunk_id = GetNextAllocatableChunkId(data_chunk_id);
+            }
         }
         map.clear();
         dest_blocks.clear();
@@ -469,6 +659,7 @@
 
     chunk_vec_.shrink_to_fit();
     vec_.shrink_to_fit();
+    read_ahead_ops_.shrink_to_fit();
 
     // Sort the vector based on sectors as we need this during un-aligned access
     std::sort(chunk_vec_.begin(), chunk_vec_.end(), compare);
@@ -483,6 +674,8 @@
     // Total number of sectors required for creating dm-user device
     num_sectors_ = ChunkToSector(data_chunk_id);
     merge_initiated_ = false;
+    PrepareReadAhead();
+
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -490,8 +683,15 @@
     CowHeader header;
     reader_->GetHeader(&header);
 
-    // mmap the first 4k page
-    total_mapped_addr_length_ = BLOCK_SZ;
+    if (header.major_version >= 2 && header.buffer_size > 0) {
+        total_mapped_addr_length_ = header.header_size + BUFFER_REGION_DEFAULT_SIZE;
+        read_ahead_feature_ = true;
+    } else {
+        // mmap the first 4k page - older COW format
+        total_mapped_addr_length_ = BLOCK_SZ;
+        read_ahead_feature_ = false;
+    }
+
     mapped_addr_ = mmap(NULL, total_mapped_addr_length_, PROT_READ | PROT_WRITE, MAP_SHARED,
                         cow_fd_.get(), 0);
     if (mapped_addr_ == MAP_FAILED) {
@@ -529,11 +729,26 @@
 }
 
 /*
- * Entry point to launch worker threads
+ * Entry point to launch threads
  */
 bool Snapuserd::Start() {
     std::vector<std::future<bool>> threads;
+    std::future<bool> ra_thread;
+    bool rathread = (read_ahead_feature_ && (read_ahead_ops_.size() > 0));
 
+    // Start the read-ahead thread and wait
+    // for it as the data has to be re-constructed
+    // from COW device.
+    if (rathread) {
+        ra_thread = std::async(std::launch::async, &ReadAheadThread::RunThread,
+                               read_ahead_thread_.get());
+        if (!WaitForReadAheadToStart()) {
+            SNAP_LOG(ERROR) << "Failed to start Read-ahead thread...";
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Launch worker threads
     for (int i = 0; i < worker_threads_.size(); i++) {
         threads.emplace_back(
                 std::async(std::launch::async, &WorkerThread::RunThread, worker_threads_[i].get()));
@@ -544,8 +759,69 @@
         ret = t.get() && ret;
     }
 
+    if (rathread) {
+        // Notify the read-ahead thread that all worker threads
+        // are done. We need this explicit notification when
+        // there is an IO failure or there was a switch
+        // of dm-user table; thus, forcing the read-ahead
+        // thread to wake up.
+        MergeCompleted();
+        ret = ret && ra_thread.get();
+    }
+
     return ret;
 }
 
+uint64_t Snapuserd::GetBufferMetadataOffset() {
+    CowHeader header;
+    reader_->GetHeader(&header);
+
+    size_t size = header.header_size + sizeof(BufferState);
+    return size;
+}
+
+/*
+ * Metadata for read-ahead is 16 bytes. For a 2 MB region, we will
+ * end up with 8k (2 PAGE) worth of metadata. Thus, a 2MB buffer
+ * region is split into:
+ *
+ * 1: 8k metadata
+ *
+ */
+size_t Snapuserd::GetBufferMetadataSize() {
+    CowHeader header;
+    reader_->GetHeader(&header);
+
+    size_t metadata_bytes = (header.buffer_size * sizeof(struct ScratchMetadata)) / BLOCK_SZ;
+    return metadata_bytes;
+}
+
+size_t Snapuserd::GetBufferDataOffset() {
+    CowHeader header;
+    reader_->GetHeader(&header);
+
+    return (header.header_size + GetBufferMetadataSize());
+}
+
+/*
+ * (2MB - 8K = 2088960 bytes) will be the buffer region to hold the data.
+ */
+size_t Snapuserd::GetBufferDataSize() {
+    CowHeader header;
+    reader_->GetHeader(&header);
+
+    size_t size = header.buffer_size - GetBufferMetadataSize();
+    return size;
+}
+
+struct BufferState* Snapuserd::GetBufferState() {
+    CowHeader header;
+    reader_->GetHeader(&header);
+
+    struct BufferState* ra_state =
+            reinterpret_cast<struct BufferState*>((char*)mapped_addr_ + header.header_size);
+    return ra_state;
+}
+
 }  // namespace snapshot
 }  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.h b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.h
index 65af553..cd9d82a 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.h
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include <sys/mman.h>
 
 #include <bitset>
+#include <condition_variable>
 #include <csignal>
 #include <cstring>
 #include <future>
@@ -57,6 +58,35 @@
  */
 static constexpr int NUM_THREADS_PER_PARTITION = 4;
 
+/*
+ * State transitions between worker threads and read-ahead
+ * threads.
+ *
+ * READ_AHEAD_BEGIN: Worker threads initiates the read-ahead
+ *                   thread to begin reading the copy operations
+ *                   for each bounded region.
+ *
+ * READ_AHEAD_IN_PROGRESS: When read ahead thread is in-flight
+ *                         and reading the copy operations.
+ *
+ * IO_IN_PROGRESS: Merge operation is in-progress by worker threads.
+ *
+ * IO_TERMINATED: When all the worker threads are done, request the
+ *                read-ahead thread to terminate
+ *
+ * READ_AHEAD_FAILURE: If there are any IO failures when read-ahead
+ *                     thread is reading from COW device.
+ *
+ * The transition of each states is described in snapuserd_readahead.cpp
+ */
+enum class READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION {
+    READ_AHEAD_BEGIN,
+    READ_AHEAD_IN_PROGRESS,
+    IO_IN_PROGRESS,
+    IO_TERMINATED,
+    READ_AHEAD_FAILURE,
+};
+
 class BufferSink : public IByteSink {
   public:
     void Initialize(size_t size);
@@ -77,6 +107,42 @@
 
 class Snapuserd;
 
+class ReadAheadThread {
+  public:
+    ReadAheadThread(const std::string& cow_device, const std::string& backing_device,
+                    const std::string& misc_name, std::shared_ptr<Snapuserd> snapuserd);
+    bool RunThread();
+
+  private:
+    void InitializeIter();
+    bool IterDone();
+    void IterNext();
+    const CowOperation* GetIterOp();
+    void InitializeBuffer();
+
+    bool InitializeFds();
+    void CloseFds() {
+        cow_fd_ = {};
+        backing_store_fd_ = {};
+    }
+
+    bool ReadAheadIOStart();
+    void PrepareReadAhead(uint64_t* source_block, int* pending_ops, std::vector<uint64_t>& blocks);
+    bool ReconstructDataFromCow();
+
+    void* read_ahead_buffer_;
+    void* metadata_buffer_;
+    std::vector<const CowOperation*>::reverse_iterator read_ahead_iter_;
+    std::string cow_device_;
+    std::string backing_store_device_;
+    std::string misc_name_;
+
+    unique_fd cow_fd_;
+    unique_fd backing_store_fd_;
+
+    std::shared_ptr<Snapuserd> snapuserd_;
+};
+
 class WorkerThread {
   public:
     WorkerThread(const std::string& cow_device, const std::string& backing_device,
@@ -117,12 +183,16 @@
     bool ProcessCopyOp(const CowOperation* cow_op);
     bool ProcessZeroOp();
 
+    bool ReadFromBaseDevice(const CowOperation* cow_op);
+    bool GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer(const CowOperation* cow_op);
+
     // Merge related functions
     bool ProcessMergeComplete(chunk_t chunk, void* buffer);
     loff_t GetMergeStartOffset(void* merged_buffer, void* unmerged_buffer,
                                int* unmerged_exceptions);
+
     int GetNumberOfMergedOps(void* merged_buffer, void* unmerged_buffer, loff_t offset,
-                             int unmerged_exceptions);
+                             int unmerged_exceptions, bool* copy_op, bool* commit);
 
     sector_t ChunkToSector(chunk_t chunk) { return chunk << CHUNK_SHIFT; }
     chunk_t SectorToChunk(sector_t sector) { return sector >> CHUNK_SHIFT; }
@@ -159,7 +229,10 @@
     bool CommitMerge(int num_merge_ops);
 
     void CloseFds() { cow_fd_ = {}; }
-    void FreeResources() { worker_threads_.clear(); }
+    void FreeResources() {
+        worker_threads_.clear();
+        read_ahead_thread_ = nullptr;
+    }
     size_t GetMetadataAreaSize() { return vec_.size(); }
     void* GetExceptionBuffer(size_t i) { return vec_[i].get(); }
 
@@ -177,14 +250,44 @@
     void UnmapBufferRegion();
     bool MmapMetadata();
 
+    // Read-ahead related functions
+    std::vector<const CowOperation*>& GetReadAheadOpsVec() { return read_ahead_ops_; }
+    std::unordered_map<uint64_t, void*>& GetReadAheadMap() { return read_ahead_buffer_map_; }
+    void* GetMappedAddr() { return mapped_addr_; }
+    bool IsReadAheadFeaturePresent() { return read_ahead_feature_; }
+    void PrepareReadAhead();
+    void StartReadAhead();
+    void MergeCompleted();
+    bool ReadAheadIOCompleted();
+    void ReadAheadIOFailed();
+    bool WaitForMergeToComplete();
+    bool GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer(uint64_t block, void* buffer);
+    bool ReconstructDataFromCow() { return populate_data_from_cow_; }
+    void ReconstructDataFromCowFinish() { populate_data_from_cow_ = false; }
+    bool WaitForReadAheadToStart();
+
+    uint64_t GetBufferMetadataOffset();
+    size_t GetBufferMetadataSize();
+    size_t GetBufferDataOffset();
+    size_t GetBufferDataSize();
+
+    // Final block to be merged in a given read-ahead buffer region
+    void SetFinalBlockMerged(uint64_t x) { final_block_merged_ = x; }
+    uint64_t GetFinalBlockMerged() { return final_block_merged_; }
+    // Total number of blocks to be merged in a given read-ahead buffer region
+    void SetTotalRaBlocksMerged(int x) { total_ra_blocks_merged_ = x; }
+    int GetTotalRaBlocksMerged() { return total_ra_blocks_merged_; }
+
   private:
     bool IsChunkIdMetadata(chunk_t chunk);
     chunk_t GetNextAllocatableChunkId(chunk_t chunk_id);
 
+    bool GetRABuffer(std::unique_lock<std::mutex>* lock, uint64_t block, void* buffer);
     bool ReadMetadata();
     sector_t ChunkToSector(chunk_t chunk) { return chunk << CHUNK_SHIFT; }
     chunk_t SectorToChunk(sector_t sector) { return sector >> CHUNK_SHIFT; }
     bool IsBlockAligned(int read_size) { return ((read_size & (BLOCK_SZ - 1)) == 0); }
+    struct BufferState* GetBufferState();
 
     std::string cow_device_;
     std::string backing_store_device_;
@@ -209,11 +312,22 @@
     std::vector<std::pair<sector_t, const CowOperation*>> chunk_vec_;
 
     std::mutex lock_;
+    std::condition_variable cv;
 
     void* mapped_addr_;
     size_t total_mapped_addr_length_;
 
     std::vector<std::unique_ptr<WorkerThread>> worker_threads_;
+    // Read-ahead related
+    std::unordered_map<uint64_t, void*> read_ahead_buffer_map_;
+    std::vector<const CowOperation*> read_ahead_ops_;
+    bool populate_data_from_cow_ = false;
+    bool read_ahead_feature_;
+    uint64_t final_block_merged_;
+    int total_ra_blocks_merged_ = 0;
+    READ_AHEAD_IO_TRANSITION io_state_;
+    std::unique_ptr<ReadAheadThread> read_ahead_thread_;
+
     bool merge_initiated_ = false;
     bool attached_ = false;
 };
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_readahead.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_readahead.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d60a353
--- /dev/null
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_readahead.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,439 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (C) 2021 The Android Open Source Project
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+#include "snapuserd.h"
+
+#include <csignal>
+#include <optional>
+#include <set>
+
+#include <libsnapshot/snapuserd_client.h>
+
+namespace android {
+namespace snapshot {
+
+using namespace android;
+using namespace android::dm;
+using android::base::unique_fd;
+
+#define SNAP_LOG(level) LOG(level) << misc_name_ << ": "
+#define SNAP_PLOG(level) PLOG(level) << misc_name_ << ": "
+
+/*
+ * Merging a copy operation involves the following flow:
+ *
+ * 1: dm-snapshot layer requests merge for a 4k block. dm-user sends the request
+ *    to the daemon
+ * 2: daemon reads the source block
+ * 3: daemon copies the source data
+ * 4: IO completion sent back to dm-user (a switch from user space to kernel)
+ * 5: dm-snapshot merges the data to base device
+ * 6: dm-snapshot sends the merge-completion IO to dm-user
+ * 7: dm-user re-directs the merge completion IO to daemon (one more switch)
+ * 8: daemon updates the COW file about the completed merge request (a write syscall) and followed
+ * by a fysnc. 9: Send the IO completion back to dm-user
+ *
+ * The above sequence is a significant overhead especially when merging one 4k
+ * block at a time.
+ *
+ * Read-ahead layer will optimize the above path by reading the data from base
+ * device in the background so that merging thread can retrieve the data from
+ * the read-ahead cache. Additionally, syncing of merged data is deferred to
+ * read-ahead thread threadby the IO path is not bottlenecked.
+ *
+ * We create a scratch space of 2MB to store the read-ahead data in the COW
+ * device.
+ *
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *      |     Header (fixed)    |
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *      |    Scratch space      |  <-- 2MB
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *
+ *      Scratch space is as follows:
+ *
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *      |       Metadata        | <- 4k page
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *      |       Metadata        | <- 4k page
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *      |                       |
+ *      |    Read-ahead data    |
+ *      |                       |
+ *      +-----------------------+
+ *
+ * State transitions and communication between read-ahead thread and worker
+ * thread during merge:
+ * =====================================================================
+ *
+ *   Worker Threads                                 Read-Ahead thread
+ *   ------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ *      |
+ *      |
+ *  --> -----------------READ_AHEAD_BEGIN------------->|
+ *  |   |                                              | READ_AHEAD_IN_PROGRESS
+ *  |  WAIT                                            |
+ *  |   |                                              |
+ *  |   |<-----------------IO_IN_PROGRESS---------------
+ *  |   |                                              |
+ *  |   | IO_IN_PRGRESS                               WAIT
+ *  |   |                                              |
+ *  |<--|                                              |
+ *      |                                              |
+ *      ------------------IO_TERMINATED--------------->|
+ *                                                     END
+ *
+ *
+ * ===================================================================
+ *
+ * Example:
+ *
+ * We have 6 copy operations to be executed in OTA and there is a overlap. Update-engine
+ * will write to COW file as follows:
+ *
+ * Op-1: 20 -> 23
+ * Op-2: 19 -> 22
+ * Op-3: 18 -> 21
+ * Op-4: 17 -> 20
+ * Op-5: 16 -> 19
+ * Op-6: 15 -> 18
+ *
+ * Read-ahead thread will read all the 6 source blocks and store the data in the
+ * scratch space. Metadata will contain the destination block numbers. Thus,
+ * scratch space will look something like this:
+ *
+ * +--------------+
+ * | Block   23   |
+ * | offset - 1   |
+ * +--------------+
+ * | Block   22   |
+ * | offset - 2   |
+ * +--------------+
+ * | Block   21   |
+ * | offset - 3   |
+ * +--------------+
+ *    ...
+ *    ...
+ * +--------------+
+ * | Data-Block 20| <-- offset - 1
+ * +--------------+
+ * | Data-Block 19| <-- offset - 2
+ * +--------------+
+ * | Data-Block 18| <-- offset - 3
+ * +--------------+
+ *     ...
+ *     ...
+ *
+ * ====================================================================
+ * IO Path:
+ *
+ * Read-ahead will serve the data to worker threads during merge only
+ * after metadata and data are persisted to the scratch space. Worker
+ * threads during merge will always retrieve the data from cache; if the
+ * cache is not populated, it will wait for the read-ahead thread to finish.
+ * Furthermore, the number of operations merged will by synced to the header
+ * only when all the blocks in the read-ahead cache are merged. In the above
+ * case, when all 6 operations are merged, COW Header is updated with
+ * num_merge_ops = 6.
+ *
+ * Merge resume after crash:
+ *
+ * Let's say we have a crash after 5 operations are merged. i.e. after
+ * Op-5: 16->19 is completed but before the Op-6 is merged. Thus, COW Header
+ * num_merge_ops will be 0 as the all the ops were not merged yet. During next
+ * reboot, read-ahead thread will re-construct the data in-memory from the
+ * scratch space; when merge resumes, Op-1 will be re-exectued. However,
+ * data will be served from read-ahead cache safely even though, block 20
+ * was over-written by Op-4.
+ *
+ */
+
+ReadAheadThread::ReadAheadThread(const std::string& cow_device, const std::string& backing_device,
+                                 const std::string& misc_name,
+                                 std::shared_ptr<Snapuserd> snapuserd) {
+    cow_device_ = cow_device;
+    backing_store_device_ = backing_device;
+    misc_name_ = misc_name;
+    snapuserd_ = snapuserd;
+}
+
+void ReadAheadThread::PrepareReadAhead(uint64_t* source_block, int* pending_ops,
+                                       std::vector<uint64_t>& blocks) {
+    int num_ops = *pending_ops;
+    int nr_consecutive = 0;
+
+    if (!IterDone() && num_ops) {
+        // Get the first block
+        const CowOperation* cow_op = GetIterOp();
+        *source_block = cow_op->source;
+        IterNext();
+        num_ops -= 1;
+        nr_consecutive = 1;
+        blocks.push_back(cow_op->new_block);
+
+        /*
+         * Find number of consecutive blocks working backwards.
+         */
+        while (!IterDone() && num_ops) {
+            const CowOperation* op = GetIterOp();
+            if (op->source != (*source_block - nr_consecutive)) {
+                break;
+            }
+            nr_consecutive += 1;
+            num_ops -= 1;
+            blocks.push_back(op->new_block);
+            IterNext();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+bool ReadAheadThread::ReconstructDataFromCow() {
+    std::unordered_map<uint64_t, void*>& read_ahead_buffer_map = snapuserd_->GetReadAheadMap();
+    read_ahead_buffer_map.clear();
+    loff_t metadata_offset = 0;
+    loff_t start_data_offset = snapuserd_->GetBufferDataOffset();
+    int num_ops = 0;
+    int total_blocks_merged = 0;
+
+    while (true) {
+        struct ScratchMetadata* bm = reinterpret_cast<struct ScratchMetadata*>(
+                (char*)metadata_buffer_ + metadata_offset);
+
+        // Done reading metadata
+        if (bm->new_block == 0 && bm->file_offset == 0) {
+            break;
+        }
+
+        loff_t buffer_offset = bm->file_offset - start_data_offset;
+        void* bufptr = static_cast<void*>((char*)read_ahead_buffer_ + buffer_offset);
+        read_ahead_buffer_map[bm->new_block] = bufptr;
+        num_ops += 1;
+        total_blocks_merged += 1;
+
+        metadata_offset += sizeof(struct ScratchMetadata);
+    }
+
+    // We are done re-constructing the mapping; however, we need to make sure
+    // all the COW operations to-be merged are present in the re-constructed
+    // mapping.
+    while (!IterDone()) {
+        const CowOperation* op = GetIterOp();
+        if (read_ahead_buffer_map.find(op->new_block) != read_ahead_buffer_map.end()) {
+            num_ops -= 1;
+            snapuserd_->SetFinalBlockMerged(op->new_block);
+            IterNext();
+        } else {
+            // Verify that we have covered all the ops which were re-constructed
+            // from COW device - These are the ops which are being
+            // re-constructed after crash.
+            CHECK(num_ops == 0);
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+
+    snapuserd_->SetTotalRaBlocksMerged(total_blocks_merged);
+
+    snapuserd_->ReconstructDataFromCowFinish();
+
+    if (!snapuserd_->ReadAheadIOCompleted()) {
+        SNAP_LOG(ERROR) << "ReadAheadIOCompleted failed...";
+        snapuserd_->ReadAheadIOFailed();
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    SNAP_LOG(INFO) << "ReconstructDataFromCow success";
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool ReadAheadThread::ReadAheadIOStart() {
+    // Check if the data has to be constructed from the COW file.
+    // This will be true only once during boot up after a crash
+    // during merge.
+    if (snapuserd_->ReconstructDataFromCow()) {
+        return ReconstructDataFromCow();
+    }
+
+    std::unordered_map<uint64_t, void*>& read_ahead_buffer_map = snapuserd_->GetReadAheadMap();
+    read_ahead_buffer_map.clear();
+
+    int num_ops = (snapuserd_->GetBufferDataSize()) / BLOCK_SZ;
+    loff_t metadata_offset = 0;
+
+    struct ScratchMetadata* bm =
+            reinterpret_cast<struct ScratchMetadata*>((char*)metadata_buffer_ + metadata_offset);
+
+    bm->new_block = 0;
+    bm->file_offset = 0;
+
+    std::vector<uint64_t> blocks;
+
+    loff_t buffer_offset = 0;
+    loff_t offset = 0;
+    loff_t file_offset = snapuserd_->GetBufferDataOffset();
+    int total_blocks_merged = 0;
+
+    while (true) {
+        uint64_t source_block;
+        int linear_blocks;
+
+        PrepareReadAhead(&source_block, &num_ops, blocks);
+        linear_blocks = blocks.size();
+        if (linear_blocks == 0) {
+            // No more blocks to read
+            SNAP_LOG(DEBUG) << " Read-ahead completed....";
+            break;
+        }
+
+        // Get the first block in the consecutive set of blocks
+        source_block = source_block + 1 - linear_blocks;
+        size_t io_size = (linear_blocks * BLOCK_SZ);
+        num_ops -= linear_blocks;
+        total_blocks_merged += linear_blocks;
+
+        // Mark the block number as the one which will
+        // be the final block to be merged in this entire region.
+        // Read-ahead thread will get
+        // notified when this block is merged to make
+        // forward progress
+        snapuserd_->SetFinalBlockMerged(blocks.back());
+
+        while (linear_blocks) {
+            uint64_t new_block = blocks.back();
+            blocks.pop_back();
+            // Assign the mapping
+            void* bufptr = static_cast<void*>((char*)read_ahead_buffer_ + offset);
+            read_ahead_buffer_map[new_block] = bufptr;
+            offset += BLOCK_SZ;
+
+            bm = reinterpret_cast<struct ScratchMetadata*>((char*)metadata_buffer_ +
+                                                           metadata_offset);
+            bm->new_block = new_block;
+            bm->file_offset = file_offset;
+
+            metadata_offset += sizeof(struct ScratchMetadata);
+            file_offset += BLOCK_SZ;
+
+            linear_blocks -= 1;
+        }
+
+        // Read from the base device consecutive set of blocks in one shot
+        if (!android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(backing_store_fd_,
+                                              (char*)read_ahead_buffer_ + buffer_offset, io_size,
+                                              source_block * BLOCK_SZ)) {
+            SNAP_PLOG(ERROR) << "Copy-op failed. Read from backing store: " << backing_store_device_
+                             << "at block :" << source_block << " buffer_offset : " << buffer_offset
+                             << " io_size : " << io_size << " buf-addr : " << read_ahead_buffer_;
+
+            snapuserd_->ReadAheadIOFailed();
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        // This is important - explicitly set the contents to zero. This is used
+        // when re-constructing the data after crash. This indicates end of
+        // reading metadata contents when re-constructing the data
+        bm = reinterpret_cast<struct ScratchMetadata*>((char*)metadata_buffer_ + metadata_offset);
+        bm->new_block = 0;
+        bm->file_offset = 0;
+
+        buffer_offset += io_size;
+        CHECK(offset == buffer_offset);
+        CHECK((file_offset - snapuserd_->GetBufferDataOffset()) == offset);
+    }
+
+    snapuserd_->SetTotalRaBlocksMerged(total_blocks_merged);
+
+    if (!snapuserd_->ReadAheadIOCompleted()) {
+        SNAP_LOG(ERROR) << "ReadAheadIOCompleted failed...";
+        snapuserd_->ReadAheadIOFailed();
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+bool ReadAheadThread::RunThread() {
+    if (!InitializeFds()) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    InitializeIter();
+    InitializeBuffer();
+
+    while (!IterDone()) {
+        if (!ReadAheadIOStart()) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        bool status = snapuserd_->WaitForMergeToComplete();
+
+        if (status && !snapuserd_->CommitMerge(snapuserd_->GetTotalRaBlocksMerged())) {
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        if (!status) break;
+    }
+
+    CloseFds();
+    SNAP_LOG(INFO) << " ReadAhead thread terminating....";
+    return true;
+}
+
+// Initialization
+bool ReadAheadThread::InitializeFds() {
+    backing_store_fd_.reset(open(backing_store_device_.c_str(), O_RDONLY));
+    if (backing_store_fd_ < 0) {
+        SNAP_PLOG(ERROR) << "Open Failed: " << backing_store_device_;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    cow_fd_.reset(open(cow_device_.c_str(), O_RDWR));
+    if (cow_fd_ < 0) {
+        SNAP_PLOG(ERROR) << "Open Failed: " << cow_device_;
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+void ReadAheadThread::InitializeIter() {
+    std::vector<const CowOperation*>& read_ahead_ops = snapuserd_->GetReadAheadOpsVec();
+    read_ahead_iter_ = read_ahead_ops.rbegin();
+}
+
+bool ReadAheadThread::IterDone() {
+    std::vector<const CowOperation*>& read_ahead_ops = snapuserd_->GetReadAheadOpsVec();
+    return read_ahead_iter_ == read_ahead_ops.rend();
+}
+
+void ReadAheadThread::IterNext() {
+    read_ahead_iter_++;
+}
+
+const CowOperation* ReadAheadThread::GetIterOp() {
+    return *read_ahead_iter_;
+}
+
+void ReadAheadThread::InitializeBuffer() {
+    void* mapped_addr = snapuserd_->GetMappedAddr();
+    // Map the scratch space region into memory
+    metadata_buffer_ =
+            static_cast<void*>((char*)mapped_addr + snapuserd_->GetBufferMetadataOffset());
+    read_ahead_buffer_ = static_cast<void*>((char*)mapped_addr + snapuserd_->GetBufferDataOffset());
+}
+
+}  // namespace snapshot
+}  // namespace android
diff --git a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_worker.cpp b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_worker.cpp
index 4b2c5a0..9f42ab8 100644
--- a/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_worker.cpp
+++ b/fs_mgr/libsnapshot/snapuserd_worker.cpp
@@ -135,14 +135,11 @@
     return true;
 }
 
-// Start the copy operation. This will read the backing
-// block device which is represented by cow_op->source.
-bool WorkerThread::ProcessCopyOp(const CowOperation* cow_op) {
+bool WorkerThread::ReadFromBaseDevice(const CowOperation* cow_op) {
     void* buffer = bufsink_.GetPayloadBuffer(BLOCK_SZ);
     CHECK(buffer != nullptr);
-
-    // Issue a single 4K IO. However, this can be optimized
-    // if the successive blocks are contiguous.
+    SNAP_LOG(DEBUG) << " ReadFromBaseDevice...: new-block: " << cow_op->new_block
+                    << " Source: " << cow_op->source;
     if (!android::base::ReadFullyAtOffset(backing_store_fd_, buffer, BLOCK_SZ,
                                           cow_op->source * BLOCK_SZ)) {
         SNAP_PLOG(ERROR) << "Copy-op failed. Read from backing store: " << backing_store_device_
@@ -153,6 +150,31 @@
     return true;
 }
 
+bool WorkerThread::GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer(const CowOperation* cow_op) {
+    void* buffer = bufsink_.GetPayloadBuffer(BLOCK_SZ);
+    CHECK(buffer != nullptr);
+
+    if (!snapuserd_->GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer(cow_op->new_block, buffer)) {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
+// Start the copy operation. This will read the backing
+// block device which is represented by cow_op->source.
+bool WorkerThread::ProcessCopyOp(const CowOperation* cow_op) {
+    if (!GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer(cow_op)) {
+        SNAP_LOG(DEBUG) << " GetReadAheadPopulatedBuffer failed..."
+                        << " new_block: " << cow_op->new_block;
+        if (!ReadFromBaseDevice(cow_op)) {
+            return false;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return true;
+}
+
 bool WorkerThread::ProcessZeroOp() {
     // Zero out the entire block
     void* buffer = bufsink_.GetPayloadBuffer(BLOCK_SZ);
@@ -386,8 +408,10 @@
 }
 
 int WorkerThread::GetNumberOfMergedOps(void* merged_buffer, void* unmerged_buffer, loff_t offset,
-                                       int unmerged_exceptions) {
+                                       int unmerged_exceptions, bool* copy_op, bool* commit) {
     int merged_ops_cur_iter = 0;
+    std::unordered_map<uint64_t, void*>& read_ahead_buffer_map = snapuserd_->GetReadAheadMap();
+    *copy_op = false;
     std::vector<std::pair<sector_t, const CowOperation*>>& chunk_vec = snapuserd_->GetChunkVec();
 
     // Find the operations which are merged in this cycle.
@@ -411,6 +435,23 @@
             const CowOperation* cow_op = it->second;
 
             CHECK(cow_op != nullptr);
+            if (snapuserd_->IsReadAheadFeaturePresent() && cow_op->type == kCowCopyOp) {
+                *copy_op = true;
+                // Every single copy operation has to come from read-ahead
+                // cache.
+                if (read_ahead_buffer_map.find(cow_op->new_block) == read_ahead_buffer_map.end()) {
+                    SNAP_LOG(ERROR)
+                            << " Block: " << cow_op->new_block << " not found in read-ahead cache"
+                            << " Source: " << cow_op->source;
+                    return -1;
+                }
+                // If this is a final block merged in the read-ahead buffer
+                // region, notify the read-ahead thread to make forward
+                // progress
+                if (cow_op->new_block == snapuserd_->GetFinalBlockMerged()) {
+                    *commit = true;
+                }
+            }
 
             CHECK(cow_op->new_block == cow_de->old_chunk);
             // zero out to indicate that operation is merged.
@@ -442,6 +483,8 @@
 bool WorkerThread::ProcessMergeComplete(chunk_t chunk, void* buffer) {
     uint32_t stride = exceptions_per_area_ + 1;
     const std::vector<std::unique_ptr<uint8_t[]>>& vec = snapuserd_->GetMetadataVec();
+    bool copy_op = false;
+    bool commit = false;
 
     // ChunkID to vector index
     lldiv_t divresult = lldiv(chunk, stride);
@@ -452,13 +495,24 @@
     int unmerged_exceptions = 0;
     loff_t offset = GetMergeStartOffset(buffer, vec[divresult.quot].get(), &unmerged_exceptions);
 
-    int merged_ops_cur_iter =
-            GetNumberOfMergedOps(buffer, vec[divresult.quot].get(), offset, unmerged_exceptions);
+    int merged_ops_cur_iter = GetNumberOfMergedOps(buffer, vec[divresult.quot].get(), offset,
+                                                   unmerged_exceptions, &copy_op, &commit);
 
     // There should be at least one operation merged in this cycle
     CHECK(merged_ops_cur_iter > 0);
-    if (!snapuserd_->CommitMerge(merged_ops_cur_iter)) {
-        return false;
+
+    if (copy_op) {
+        if (commit) {
+            // Push the flushing logic to read-ahead thread so that merge thread
+            // can make forward progress. Sync will happen in the background
+            snapuserd_->StartReadAhead();
+        }
+    } else {
+        // Non-copy ops and all ops in older COW format
+        if (!snapuserd_->CommitMerge(merged_ops_cur_iter)) {
+            SNAP_LOG(ERROR) << "CommitMerge failed...";
+            return false;
+        }
     }
 
     SNAP_LOG(DEBUG) << "Merge success: " << merged_ops_cur_iter << "chunk: " << chunk;